Yahoo Loses Top Media Executive Rosen Amid Mayer-Led Turnaround

Yahoo! Inc.’s Mickie Rosen, the veteran entertainment executive hired to lead the company’s media business in 2011, is departing one year into Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer’s attempt at a turnaround.

Rosen, who was senior vice president of global media, is leaving Sept. 1, and will receive a severance package for termination “without cause,” according to a regulatory filing Monday from the Sunnyvale, California-based company.

Mayer has emphasized online video, an area overseen by Rosen, as part of her effort to revive growth at the largest U.S. Internet portal. Rosen’s departure follows Yahoo’s failed attempt to buy a majority stake in video site Dailymotion as well as a bid for Hulu LLC, the streaming service that called off an auction earlier this month.

“Mickie has made tremendous contributions to Yahoo’s media business over the past two-and-a-half years, and we wish her all the best,” Sara Gorman, a spokeswoman for Yahoo, said in an e- mailed statement, without elaborating on the reason for her departure.

Rosen previously worked at News Corp.’s former Fox Interactive Media unit and Walt Disney Co. Yahoo said that Rosen’s severance agreement includes the equivalent of six months salary, a portion of bonus payments, health-care reimbursements and accelerated vesting of stock options.

The departure was announced on the same day Yahoo director and activist investor Daniel Loeb said he is leaving the board and selling $1.16 billion of his stake back to the company.

Yahoo! Inc.'s Mickie Rosen, the veteran entertainment executive hired to lead the company's media business in 2011, is departing one year into Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer's attempt at a turnaround.